


Story Cubes Fics

by ChimaeraKitten



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: But different, Gen, No editing we die like mne, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, like more characters will appear because this is basically a collection of prompts, story cubes fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-30 19:01:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13957974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChimaeraKitten/pseuds/ChimaeraKitten
Summary: Various microfics from rolling my set of Rory's Story Cubes.





	1. Skyscraper, Shooting Star, Magnifying Glass

Between the light pollution and smog, a person was lucky if they saw even one star over the Gotham skyline, but a strong wind had been whipping inland from the ocean for the past week, and the Riddler’s latest scheme had sent half the city into a blackout.

Unfortunately, that second part meant Dick hadn’t had much of a chance to enjoy the rare chance to see real stars scattered across the Gotham sky.

He’d been running nonstop for almost 14 hours now, managing to get the power on for a few minutes at a time, but never managing to stop Nygma from turning it off again. As far as Dick new, the most recent set of clues lead back toward Arkham Asylum. Bruce was running them down while everyone else split off to help anyone endangered by the blackout. Dick had just finished another run bringing gasoline to Leslie Tompkins’s clinic to keep the generators on. He was pretty sure Tim was doing the same thing for a few other free clinics in the city while Jason and Cass were running interference to keep the gangs under control.

Dick grappled up to the nearest building with a proper vantage point and turned on his comm. “Nightwing to all points. Anyone need backup?”

“Negative, Nightwing,” Dick heard Tim’s voice come through, “I’ve just rendezvoused with Black Bat and Red Hood, and the situation down here is under control.”

“What about Batgirl and Robin?” Dick asked. He hadn’t heard from Stephanie or Damian in a while.

“No issues here!” Stephanie chirped into the comm. “Robin and I have things under control in the U district.”

Dick tuned out Damian’s immediate protest that making sure drunk college students didn’t wander into the wrong alley in the dark was beneath him.

“Alright then. I’ll head west. Meet up with B.” It hadn’t slipped Dick’s notice that Bruce had been mostly silent.

“Negative.” Bruce said. “The asylum is another dead end. I need you on the north side to respond to another Riddler attack quickly.”

Dick shook his head, forgetting Bruce couldn’t see him. “Most of the residents of the Alley are hunkered down. I’ll be more useful somewhere else.”

“You’ve been going nonstop since eleven this morning.” Bruce’s voice had taken on a note of softness, even through the Batman growl. “Take a breather, Nightwing.”

“But—“

“Look,” Oracle’s modulated voice cut into the transmission. “I’m partially blind from the blackout, but I have enough emergency cameras to see if anything big happens. I’ll notify you if you’re needed.”

Everyone else immediately jumped in to reassure him that he’d been “working longer than anybody else,” and “barely got any sleep last night anyway,” and they could “totally handle things for a bit.”

“Guys I—“

“Take a break, Nightwing,” Bruce said. “That’s an order.”

“You can’t—“ Dick tried to say, but then he heard the click that meant Bruce had disconnected. “Oracle, I can—“

“Get some rest,” Barbara said, “Look at the stars.”

“But—“

“Just twenty minutes,” Barbara insisted.

Dick sighed, feeling like a deflating balloon. “Okay.”

He backed up against the building’s chimney, slumping down. Maybe he did need a break. He took a deep breath and tilted his head back. He couldn’t take a nap—it was much to exposed out here for that—but maybe he could meditate a minute and then stretch. Loosen up. And then—and then he’d get up. Go help his family. Make sure they stayed safe through the rest of this nightmare.

Over his head, a shooting star burned a silver trail across the night sky.


	2. Flashlight, Footprint, Magnifying Glass

Tim flicked the flashlight on, scanning the sides of the path. It was dark enough that when he turned it back off again it took a moment for his eyes to adjust enough to keep walking. He wished he had his mask, with its built-in night vision, or his utility belt’s red penlight. Mostly he just wished he had his costume at all. He felt naked without any armor.

He moved silently through the pitch-black forest. It was slower going than he would have liked, since he was relying on his own limited vision to warn him about dead leaves, twigs, and other sound traps.Every once in awhile, he’d stop and turn on the flashlight. There were no footprints in the hard packed dirt in the center of the path, but it was possible he’d get lucky and find something in the softer soil at its edges. He’d know he was going the right way, at least.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t careless enough to leave easy marks, and more and more he doubted he was even on the right path at all. She might have doubled back, or maybe left the trail a quarter mile ago and was hunkered down in the brush somewhere.

That was when he got lucky.

There was a rustle and a crash a couple hundred feet to his left, and then loud, arabic swearing that cut off abruptly with a muffled “Mpf!”.

Tim was suddenly glad he hadn’t used the flashlight for a while.

He left the path and crept through the trees, careful to avoid any roots that would trip him up. As he got nearer to the origin of the sounds he could hear a flurry of whispering.

“Get going Brown.”

“ _Hell_ no, _you_ leave. I was here first.”

“And for once you found a decent hiding--”

That was the last Tim could hear before he arrived near the spiny branches of a massive fallen tree. If he had to guess, he’d say Stephanie was hiding in the hollow formed when the roots tore up. It was a good spot. Tim might never have found her if Damian hadn’t given their position away.

Tim hoisted himself up onto the trunk of the tree, careful not to knock the wood with the flashlight. He stayed low as he approached the roots, nearly slipping several times. Throwing caution to the wind, he ran the last few steps and vaulted the roots, flicking the flashlight on just as he landed between Stephanie, Damian, and escape into the woods. Their hiding place had become a trap.

Damian realized what was happening first and bolted. Tim let him go. He only needed to catch one.

Stephanie, seeing no way out, sighed and submitted to being tagged.

“I’m going to kill that kid.” She whispered.

Tim handed her the flashlight. “Not until you count to one hundred.”

He took off into the woods, laughing at Stephanie’s frustrated scream.


End file.
